Looking to get back on track away from the PMAC, the Lady Tigers surged in the second half in Oxford, Miss., to complete a 66-56 victory against Ole Miss.
LSU (16-4, 5-2 Southeastern Conference) jumped out to an 11-point lead against the Rebels (10-11, 1-6 SEC)with 13:02 remaining in the first half, but Ole Miss roared back before halftime to give the visiting squad a three-point deficit to overcome.
Senior forward Theresa Plaisance carried LSU before halftime, shooting 6-of-10 from the field and 2-of-2 from 3-point range for 14 points and eight rebounds.
Meanwhile, Ole Miss featured a three-pronged attack in the first half with junior forward Tia Faleru, senior point guard Valencia McFarland and freshman forward Shequila Joseph combining for 24 points and eight rebounds before heading into the locker room.
LSU coach Nikki Caldwell said she had to make adjustments at halftime to help stifle the Ole Miss attack.
“Ole Miss does a phenomenal job of pushing the tempo, and transition baskets were key for them in the first half,” Caldwell said. “Also, they did a nice job of getting on the offensive glass and getting some of those offensive put backs, so offensive rebounding was hurting us, too. So we said we really need to go back and eliminate those two areas, and we did that by pounding the ball inside and being patient with our offense.”
The Rebels went back to the court and developed a six-point lead with 17:59 remaining in the second half, but they were only able to hold on until the 12:36 mark.
From then on, it was all Lady Tigers.
Plaisance continued to be a force, finishing with a season-high 23 points while adding 10 rebounds and three assists. Senior forward Shanece McKinney was effective from the field, ending the game 5-of-7.
Sophomore guard Danielle Ballard showed every facet of her game, finishing with 12 points, seven rebounds and a team-high five assists.
LSU outscored Ole Miss 33-20 in the second half, largely due to the ineffectiveness in the Rebels’ shooting.
Ole Miss finished 21-of-61 from the field and 5-of-26 from 3-point range. The Lady Tigers out-rebounded the Rebels 45-29.
The Lady Tigers succeeded in holding down McFarland, who scored 25 or more points in the three games leading up to Sunday’s contest.
McFarland finished with 10 points after shooting 4-of-10 from the field.
“It started with [LSU freshman guard Raigyne] Moncrief,” Caldwell said. “I thought her intensity at the very beginning of the game set the tone for us. We tried different people on her and different looks within our matchup, but she’s such a phenomenal player, and game-in and game-out she’s going to look for a teammate to give her assists as well.”
Moncrief had five points, nine rebounds and five steals to help the Lady Tigers pull away in the second half.
“[Moncrief] did a nice job of picking and getting in there and shooting the gap, and she had some critical steals for us that led to transition baskets,” Caldwell said. “When you see a player that didn’t take a whole lot of shots, but she did so many great things for us to allow us to win, that’s what you want.”
“When you see a player that didn’t take a whole lot of shots, but she did so many great things for us to allow us to win, that’s what you want.”